MOSCOW, February 15 - RAPSI. Law enforcement agencies have opened over 1,000 criminal cases in 2011 on the illegal use of Adobe Systems' software, the company's representative said at a news conference on Wednesday.

The number of copyright cases initiated by Adobe jumped by 57 percent to 1,073 cases in 2011 compared to 681 cases year on year.

Most of cases were initiated against pirated software suppliers and installers. Trade companies, photo studios and advertising companies are among the major end users of unlicensed software, which account for 20, 18 and 10 percent of the pirated software market, respectively.

Adobe noted that it managed to curb piracy among these companies after it allowed them a discount on the software.

Adobe actively fights against the distribution of its unlicensed software on the Internet. The company said it managed to shut down 113,000 links to the unlicensed software in 2011. Most of them -- about 15,000 -- were shut in December.